My Search for Freedom from Dieting

But First – my latest Clafoutis creation. This one is peaches and cherries (and yes a little drizzle of maple syrup on top takes it right over the top). Recipe can be found on the preppy paleo site.

I have been overweight for most of my life. As a child I was chubby. As an adult I was fat, clinically obese. I have struggled with various “diets”, as well as thinking I could do this alone. But I always come back to my bad habits – too much carbs, too much sugar, too much fat. Why do we crave these things and not the healthy?

My first real success with any “diet” was back in the mid-eighties. Back then the Scarsdale Diet (basically a high protein/low carb diet) was all the rage. Eat a very specific meal plan for two weeks, a modified meal plan with some flexibility for two weeks and you continued with this on again-off again regimen till you lost all of the weight to your goal. The meals were very high in protein and although you were allowed a carb (or slice of bread) a day, it had to have a high protein count. And yes you can lose 1 pound of more a day on a high protein diet – all because of the flushing out of Ketones (which flush through your liver) which in some chemical way helps you burn stored fat. I’m not a biologist or a chemist so I’ll stay away from discussing the science behind this idea.

The problem with any “diet” is not taking the weight off, but keeping it off. I believe the statistic is somewhere around 95% of all people put back on the weight they lose through dieting (and other methods of weight loss) and usually end up putting on more weight that when they started. Not a really good statistic people. So why even try? I’m a relatively happy person. Sure I would like to wear clothes those “skinny” people do and not shop in a “women’s” clothing store where sizes have “X’s”.

Back to the mid-eighties – I did the Scarsdale Diet for about 2 months and lost about 25-30 pounds. Back then losing that much weight put me much closer to my “goal weight” that the official Hieght/Weight charts said I should be. I then started to gain some of that weight back – why? My Habits did not change. I did not permanently change the way I was eating – I went on a diet, lost the weight and went back to eating as I always have.

Breaking habits or starting new habits is very hard. I’m still not sure how to do this successfully – but that’s another topic for another day.

Having gained about 15 lbs after the Scarsdale Diet, my company started an inhouse Weight Watchers program. So I joined that and successfully lost another 25 lbs which actually put me close to what Weight Watchers calls your “Goal Weight”. I was only about 3 lbs from goal, but push as much as I like I still could not reach that goal weight. I was however wearing clothes and sizes I never thought I would. And it was fun having more choices in clothing. I even maintained that weight for almost 2 years, but then I decided it was time to have a child, got pregnant and gained about 40 lbs. during my pregnancy. Yikes!

What was important back then was that Weight Watchers was not a point based system as it is today. There were foods that were off limits and you had to make sure that your meals were balanced. You still had choices, but those choices were limited. If I remember correctly, for instance cheese (on of my favorite foods) was limited to 4 times or 4 ounces a week. This was before a lot of fat free and low fat foods. You really had to plan out when you were going to splurge for a piece of cheese.

After having my daughter I was about 30 lbs more than I was when I started. That is when I started gaining more weight. I had a young child (with some health issues), a demanding job, a husband who I was neglecting and food that I was not neglecting. An additional 30 lbs became, 40, 50, 60, 70 more lbs. At one point I was almost 100 lbs more than when I had almost achieved goal weight on Weight Watchers. And I was getting older with no real exercise and a metabolism that was slowing. I really did not see myself changing my habits at all.

Yes I did try going back to Weight Watchers (I have had some success off and on with that program and the points). I tried Xenical when it first came out, which I also had some success with and did managed to get down to about 70 -80 lbs overweight versus 100 lbs. By then the Height/Weight charts changed – and more people were concentrating on BMI versus weight. And those charts will vary – I just looked up three different Height Weight charts on line – one says for my height with a large frame that I should weigh from 134 – 151 lbs. Another says 110 – 144 lbs . And finanlly another one says I shoud weight from 121 to 138 lbs. So which one is it?

I also just calculated my BMI which is currently 32.44 (pretty good since I have been as high as 40). According to the experts (I think they mean physcicians, but I’m not sure) anything over a 24.9 BMI is considered overweight. So I still have some work to do. The problem with BMI is still requires a scale, and you know how I’m feeling about the scale right now.

For me losing weight has become a health issue. I have been on high blood pressure medication for close to 20 years now. I have gout and I was on medication for Type 2 Diabetes recently. Finally, my doctor said my Tryclicerides were elevated and she was thinking of putting me on cholesterol medication. That was the proverbially final straw for me.